Transcript Slide 1

The Reality of Virtue
in the light of
Ayah Al-Bir
By Dr. Muhammad Haq
‫ِ‬
‫ِ‬
‫ِ‬
‫ِ‬
‫الرِحْيم‬
‫ن‬
‫ْح‬
‫الر‬
‫اهلل‬
‫م‬
‫س‬
‫ب‬
‫ٰ‬
‫َّ ْ َّ‬
‫ْ‬
‫س ا ْل ِب َّر أَنْ ُت َولُّوا ُو ُجو َه ُك ْم قِ َبل َ ا ْل َم ْ‬
‫ش ِر ِق َوا ْل َم ْغ ِر ِ‬
‫ب َولَكِنَّ‬
‫لَ ْي َ‬
‫اَّلل َوا ْل َي ْو ِم ْاْلَخ ِِر َوا ْل َم ََلئِ َك ِة َوا ْل ِك َتا ِ‬
‫ب َوال َّن ِب ِّيينَ‬
‫ا ْل ِب َّر َمنْ آَ َمنَ ِب َّ ِ‬
‫ساكِينَ َوا ْبنَ‬
‫َوآَ َتى ا ْل َمال َ َعلَى ُح ِّب ِه َذ ِوي ا ْلقُ ْر َبى َوا ْل َي َتا َمى َوا ْل َم َ‬
‫الص ََل َة َوآَ َتى َّ‬
‫الر َقا ِ‬
‫الز َكا َة‬
‫ب َوأَ َقا َم َّ‬
‫السائِلِينَ َوفِي ِّ‬
‫يل َو َّ‬
‫ال َّ‬
‫س ِب ِ‬
‫اِ‬
‫س ِ‬
‫اب ِرينَ فِي ا ْل َبأْ َ‬
‫َوا ْل ُموفُونَ ِب َع ْه ِد ِه ْم إِ َذا َعا َهدُوا َوال َّ‬
‫ص ِ‬
‫ص َدقُوا َوأُولَئِ َك ُه ُم‬
‫ض َّر ِ‬
‫س أُولَئِ َك الَّذِينَ َ‬
‫َوال َّ‬
‫اِ َوحِينَ ا ْل َبأْ ِ‬
‫ا ْل ُم َّتقُونَ‬
‫)‪﴾2:177‬‬
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
It is no virtue. That you turn your faces towards the
east or the west, but virtue is that one should sincerely
believe in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and
the Book and the Prophets and, out of His love, spend
of one's choice wealth for relatives and orphans, for the
needy and the wayfarer, for beggars and for the ransom
of slaves, and establish the Salat and pay the Zakat.
And the virtuous are those who keep their pledges
when they make them and show fortitude in hardships
and adversity and in the struggle between the Truth
and falsehood; such are the truthful people and such
are the pious. (2:177)
Points to be noted, regarding the division of
The Holy Quran
 This is one of the longest verse (Ayah) in The Holy Quran .
 There are short as well as long Surah (chapters) in the Holy
Quran.
 There are short as well as long Ayat (verses) in the Holy Quran.
 There are verses that consist of only one word. e.g.
For example:
﴾103:1﴿ ِ‫َو ْال َعصْ ر‬
By the time! (103:1)
Vocables of The Holy Quran ( Huruf Muqatta'at)
The longest Surah (chapter) is Al-Baqarah(The Cow)
and it consists of 286 verses .
All the above division of the Glorious Quran is
termed as Tauqeefi.
What Tauqeefi means ?
No grammar rule or logic is involved while
classifying the Quran. It does not depend upon
human thinking. All this came into our
knowledge as the Holy Prophet told us. So it is
called Tauqeefi
The relationship and resemblance between
Surah Al-Asr and Ayah Al-Bir.
Four requirements for human salvation
 Faith
 Good deeds
 Exhortation to truth
 Exhortation to patience
Elaboration of Faith
in
Ayah Al-Bir
Al-Asr
Ayah Al-Bir
Allah
The Last Day
Faith
The Angels
The Book
The Prophets
The Faith is like a bud (an unblown
flower) in Surah Al-Asr whereas in
Ayah Al-Bir it has already blown and
have five petals.
Elaboration of Good Deeds
in
Ayah Al-Bir
Al-Asr
Good
Deeds
Ayah Al-Bir
Spending of one's choice wealth for relatives
and orphans, for the needy and the wayfarer,
for beggars and for the ransom of slaves
Establishing the Salat and pay the Zakat
Keeping their pledges when they make them
Elaboration of Good Deeds
in
Ayah Al-Bir
Al-Asr
Good
Deeds
Ayah Al-Bir
Service to humanity ,
human sympathy,
charity- spend of one's choice wealth to
the needy
Worship of God or Religious ritualsSalat and Zakat
Our Dealings with others- keep one’s
pledge
The Good deeds is like a stem
of a tree in Surah Al-Asr
whereas in Ayah Al-Bir it has
three branches .
Elaboration of Exhortation to patience
in
Ayah Al-Bir
Al-Asr
Ayah Al-Bir
Showing fortitude in
Exhortation
to
Patience
Hardships
Adversity
The struggle between the Truth and
falsehood;
Elaboration of Exhortation to patience
in
Ayah Al-Bir
Al-Asr
Ayah Al-Bir
Showing fortitude in
Exhortation
to
Patience
Hardships-poverty, live hand to mouth,
make both ends meet
Adversity-physical or mental torture,
illness, perilless
The struggle between the Truth and
falsehood- battlefield, war
The so-called concept of virtue, piety or
righteousness in the society
Business People:
Perform religious rituals, give charity to the Islamic
centres and respect the Islamic Scholars(Imams).
But
at the same time are involved in smuggling, blackmarketing, tax evasion, hoarding goods, lack of softness
in their hearts, inconsiderate, cruel and miser person
The so-called concept of virtue, piety or
righteousness in the society
Modern qualified people:
Performing assigned duties duty properly, honestly and
professionally.
But
On the other hand they consider religious duties as a
private matter
The so-called concept of virtue, piety or
righteousness in the society
So-called Religious People:
They normally focus on the appearance of the mode of
Worships
But
neglect the spirit and inner of these religious duties.
They just pay attention on performing prayers but are
unaware of its spirit and reality.
Outward Appearance of Moral
and
Religious Observances
In the first part of this verse a particular view of moral rectitude and
righteousness has been negated, that of pure formalism and ritualism.
Some devoutly religious persons exhibit this attitude when they assign
utmost importance to outward appearance of moral and religious
observances to the total neglect of their inner spirit and meaning.
Quite understandably many people, as a reaction to the ritualistic
soulless moralism of religious people, turn to secular ethics. Islam, on the
other hand, always warns against superficial concepts and rituals, against
lifeless formalities and non-effective beliefs.
Concept of Morality in Islam
It centres around certain basic metaphysical beliefs and principles.
Among these are the following :
 God is the creator and Source of all goodness, truth and beauty.
 Man is a responsible, dignified, and honorable agent of his Creator.
 By His Mercy and Wisdom, God does not expect the impossible from man or
hold him accountable for anything beyond his power. Nor does God forbid man
to enjoy the good things of life.
 Moderation, practicality, and balance are the guarantees of high integrity and
sound morality.
 Man´s ultimate responsibility is to God and his highest goal is the
pleasure of his Creator.
The Dimensions of
Moral Righteousness
The dimensions of moral righteousness in Islam are
numerous, far reaching and comprehensive.
The Islamic morals deal with the relationship between
man and God, man and his fellow-men, man and other
elements and creatures of the universe, man and his
innermost self.
A Muslim has to guard his external behaviour and his
manifest deeds, his words and his thoughts, his feelings
and intentions.
The Dimensions of
Moral Righteousness
In a general sense, his role is to champion what is right and
fight what is wrong, seek what is true and abandon what is
false, cherish what is beautiful and wholesome and avoid
what is indecent.
Truth and moral virtue are his goal. Humility and simplicity,
courtesy and compassion, are his second nature.
To him, arrogance and vanity, harshness and indifference, are
distasteful, offensive, and displeasing to God.
Verses About the Change of Qiblah
The Holy Quran Says:
“Of course, the foolish people will say, "What has turned
them abruptly away from the Qiblah towards which they
formerly used to turn their faces in prayer? Tell them,
O Messenger, `'East and West all belong to Allah; He
shows the Right Way to anyone He wills. Thus have
We made you a Community of the "Golden Mean" so
that you may be witnesses in regard to mankind and the
Messenger may be a witness in regard to you. (2-142)
The Holy Quran Says:
We have seen you (O Muhammad), turning your face over and over
again towards Heaven. Now, therefore, We turn you towards the
Qiblah that you like best:
so turn your face towards the Masjid Haram. Henceforth, where so
ever you may be, turn your face at prayer towards it.
The people who were given the Book know it well that the commandment
(about the change of Qiblah) is in fact from their Lord, and is based on the
Truth,
but Allah is not unaware of what they are doing (in spite of this)
[2-144]
The Holy Quran Says:
Everyone has a direction towards which he turns in
Prayer: so try to excel one another in good works.
Allah will find you where so ever you be, for nothing
is out of Allah's reach.
[2-148]
The Holy Quran Says:
At whatever place you may be, turn your face towards Masjid
Haram (at Prayer time) for this is, in fact, a Commandment of
your Lord, and Allah is not unaware of what you do. At
whatever place you may be, you must turn your face towards
the Masjid Haram, and wherever you may be, you must turn
your face towards the same at prayer so that people might not
find an argument against you.
As for the unjust people, they will never stop talking; so do
not fear them but fear Me -- (Do this) so that I may complete
My favour upon you and you may find the way to real success.
[2-150]
Story regarding the Change of Qiblah
After the Hijrah the Holy Prophet (upon whom be
peace) continued to turn his face in the Prayer
towards the Temple (at Jerusalem) for about 16 or 17
months; then he was commanded to turn his face
towards the Ka'bah (at Makkah). This change of the
Qiblah (direction of Prayer) with its implications has
been described in detail in the succeeding verses.
Contd…
Story regarding the Change of Qiblah
This is the commandment for the change of the Qiblah,
which was enjoined in Rajab or Sha'ban, A.H. 2. When this
was revealed, according to Ibn Sa'd, the Holy Prophet was
leading the Zuhr (early afternoon) prayer in the house of
Bishr bin Bara' bin Ma'rur where he had gone in response to
an invitation. This verse was revealed when he had gone
through half of the prayer. lie at once turned his face towards
the Ka'bah during the prayer and those who were saying their
Prayer following his lead did the same.
Objections Raised by Foolish People & its Refutation
Those foolish people who did not have the sense to
appreciate the true significance of this change began to
raise different kinds of objections in order to create
doubts in the minds of the Believers. Being narrowminded, they thought that Allah was confined to a
particular point or direction and the change of Qiblah
meant turning away from Him. This absurd objection
has been removed by the declaration that east, west and all
other directions belong to Allah. The fact that the Qiblah lies
in a certain direction does not mean that Allah is confined to
that direction only. Those people who are blessed with
guidance cannot entertain such narrow ideas.
The Declaration of the Leadership of the
Muslim Community
"Thus" refers both to the Guidance of Allah which was sent
through Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) and to the
change of the Qiblah. It was by following the Guidance that
the Muslims achieved those excellences which led to their
appointment as the "Community of the Golden Mean," and it
was the change of the Qiblah from the Temple to the Ka`bah
that was an indication that the Israelites had been deposed
from the leadership and the Muslims had been appointed to
it.
Change of Qiblah - Change of Leadership
Therefore the change of the Qiblah from the Temple to
the Ka`bah was not merely a change of direction as the
foolish people took it to be, but it was really the formal
declaration of the change of leadership from the
Israelites to the followers of Muhammad (Allah's peace
be upon him).
Separating the Believers
from
the Slaves of Prejudice and Racialism
The change of the Qiblah also served to separate the
Believers from the slaves of prejudice and racialism. On
the one side, there were the Arabs who were not ready to
give up their own Ka'bah and to adopt the Temple at
Jerusalem as the Qiblah. They were tried first. It was a
hard test but the sincere believers passed successfully
through this and the worshippers of the idol of
nationalism failed.
Contd…
Test of Their Belief
Now when the Qiblah was changed from Jerusalem to the Ka'bah,
those Jews and Christians who had embraced Islam were put to the
test. It was very difficult for them to accept any other Qiblah than
the one of their forefathers. Thus the worshippers of race, who
turned back from Islam were separated from the worshippers of
Allah and fatally the worshippers of Allah only remained with the
Holy Prophet.
Importance of the Topic
In Islam, the first and foremost goal is the inner, moral
progress of man, and therefore the ethical considerations
overrule the purely utilitarian. In the contemporary world the
situation is unfortunately just the opposite. The
consideration of material utility and physical comfort
dominates all manifestations of human activity, and ethics
are being relegated to an obscure background of life and
condemned to merely a theoretical position without the
slightest power of influencing the human community.
Ethics constitutes an essential aspect of man´s intrinsic nature : it is part of his
ontological substance. The sense of right and wrong fulfils a psychical demand
emanating from a man´s inner being, just as water and air fulfill our basic needs
for physical existence. The inner non-corporeal component of man the spiritual
core or soul requires nourishment through gratification of its moral demands. In
this sense, some conception of moral righteousness or piety is inalienable from
human life.
On deeper analysis it would become clear that even socially undesirable elements
have a sense of righteousness and observe a code of ethics to gratify it. Pace
Durkheim, a minimal sense of ethics (good, virtue) is unavoidable, and hence his
notion of ‘anomie´ or a state of normlessness is a pure fiction.
The literal meaning of Bir(virtue)
 The Term ‘Birr´ ( ‫ )بر‬is derived from the root (‫) بِرِر‬
which means Godliness, righteousness, probity,
kindness, charitable gift.
 It is common knowledge that when a person sets his
feet on shore after a long sailing in rough seas he feels
a great relief. He is never sure of his safety in the ocean,
but he feels sure-footed and comfortable when he has
landed on the ground. This comfort and peace of mind
is the reality of this word .
Saying of The Holy Prophet (PBUH)
This very sense of righteousness (virtue or charity) has
been beautifully conveyed thus by the Prophet´s saying:
"Give up whatever pricks your heart".
(al-Bukhari)
Poem-Charity
Charities that soothe and heal and bless,
Are scattered over the feet of men like flowers,
No mystery is here no special boon,
For the high and nor for the low,
The smoke ascends as high from the hearth of a humble
cottage,
As from that of a haughty palace.
The Mutual Relationship between Faith and Virtue
 Why Faith comes first in the discussion of virtue?
 What are the moral values?
 Are these values permanent or subject to change with
the passage of time?
 What is the motive behind virtue despite facing
hardships and difficulties?
The Holy Quran Says:
﴾91:7﴿ِ‫اِس َّوا َها‬
َ ‫س َِو َم‬
ٍ ‫َو َن ْف‬
And by the soul and by Him Who perfectly proportioned it.
(91:7)
﴾91:8﴿ِ‫اِو َت ْق َوا َها‬
َ ‫ُور َه‬
َ ‫َفأ َ ْل َه َم َهاِفُج‬
And imbued it with (the consciousness of) its evil and its piety:
(91:8)
Awareness of Universally valid Norms
In Islam, man by nature (i.e., fitrah) has an awareness of
the universally valid moral norms. To every man this
awareness is potentially given, even though actually
distorted by culture, education, and his existential
estrangement from his true being. The Divine law is
creatively present both in the laws of nature and in the
natural moral laws of the human mind. A man who performs
morally vicious actions, feels a consciousness of
estrangement from, and contradiction of, his essential being.
According to the Quran, the original nature of man is
essentially good.
According to a western philosopher Kant :
First Book - Critique of pure reason
 no need of any belief for morality
Second Book - Critique of practical reason
 must have faith in God as base of moral values
Two Motives for Morality
 Faith in God is a positive motive to please Allah.
 Believe in the Last day is a sense of accountability.
The Base of our Deeds
The Holy Quran Says:
It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah. it
is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them
subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His Guidance
to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right.
(33-37)
The Holy Quran Says:
You can never attain piety unless you spend (in the way
of Allah) of what you love; surely Allah will have full
knowledge of what you spend.
[3-92]
Saying of The Holy Prophet
Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The reward of deeds
depends upon the intentions and every person will get
the reward according to what he has intended. So
whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman
to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for."
Saying of The Holy Prophet
Virtue and Prophethood
The Holy Quran Says:
Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful
pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah
and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise
of Allah.
(33-21)
 Believe in angels ,books and prophets is actually
Prophethood
 Virtue should remain within the limits and must not
cross the boundary line
Doctrine of Pessimism
Disgusted with the Buddhist or ‘Tayag´ doctrine of
pessimism that this world is full of evil and consequently
no good can come out of it, some thinkers have taken
refuge in the opposite extreme of optimism. The Quran,
on the other hand, advocates neither the one nor the
other.
Quranic Approach
The teaching of the Quran, which stands for the
possibility of improvement in the behavior of man and
his control over natural forces, is neither pessimism nor
optimism and is animated by the hope of man´s
eventual victory over evil.
Earthly Life
Earthly life is of tremendous value; but it is of a purely
instrumental value. In Islam there is no room for the
materialistic optimism of the modern West which says :
‘My kingdom is of this world alone
A Quranic Prayer for The believers
"Our Lord! give us the good in this world and
the good in the Hereafter".
(2 : 201)
"Let the virtues of God by your virtues".
(al-Bukhari)
Good Morals in Islam
Good morals in Islam are divine attributes and it is
demanded of us to recreate them in ourselves as far as
our humanity allows.
Human Sympathy comes first in the discussion of
virtue
The Recipients of Human Sympathy
Donors
Recipients
Relatives
Orphans
Spending of
one's choice
wealth
The Needy
the wayfarer,
beggars
the ransom of slaves
Modes of Worship
 Establishing Prayers
 Paying Zakat
 Keeping one’s pledge is the key for the reformation of
Human behavior
 The struggle between the Truth and falsehoodbattlefield, war
Summum Bonum
or
Highest Good
 To sacrifice one’s life in the way of Allah in the
battlefield or war.
The standard of truthfulness or piety
Those people whose life is the embodiment of those
characteristics that has been explained in Ayah-e-Bir are
the truthful and pious people according to the Quranic
concept of Virtue.
Thanks for your Empathetic listening.